Posts by Cirrrus64

A good introductory video is "So You Want to Fly Gliders" from Sporty's Pilot Shop. There are many good books on soaring that are available used on eBay. The FAA has a publication "Glider Flying Handbook" that can be downloaded for free as a PDF on the FAA web site http://www.faa.gov/regulations_po…lider_handbook/.

No one answered the questions about launch techniques, so I will give it a try (applies to western US). Aerotow is almost always done in the high position unless doing ferry tows or two glider tows. The sight picture is much better in the high tow position and the break after release is safer (no tow rope above you). If towing in extremely rough air, such as through wave rotor clouds, whatever tow position keeps you connected to the tow plane is appropriate. Tow rope length is 200 ft-300 ft standard, with the rope becoming somewhat shorter as the rope wears out. I have never been on tow with a rope less than 150 ft long. In the old days, automobile launch was much more prevalent than winch launch, as Americans had high powered cars and trucks. The tow lines were armored surplus tow cables from military aircraft target towing and were 2000 to 3000 feet long. All you need is a big dry lake and some dust devils to show where to go with the tow. Perhaps Aerofly can be the first simulator for auto tow. I have not launched off a winch as the modern preferred method is aerotow. Auto tow is still used in some remote desert locations if a tow plane is not available. Auto tow technique for the pilot is the same as winch launch, and we could get 1200-1500 ft on a 3000 ft cable.

In ancient days when we used media call cassette tapes, Memorex produced cassette tapes. One of their ad campaigns highlighted the fidelity of the tapes by comparing real sounds with recorded sounds. My favorite was the classic of the female opera singer shattering a glass using her voice and the recorded Memorex tape performing the same feat. The meaning is that the simulation is so realistic that you can't tell the difference from the real item. Thus the Q400 is so realistic it can't be differentiated from the real Q400.

I just ordered a GTX 1080Ti per your recommendations. I will wait on the CPU upgrade until AF 2 can use all the cores, or another application I use can make use of more cores. Thanks!

Thanks for the quick reply. Does that mean that video cards with multiple GPUs or multiple video cards in SLI would provide better performance? Based on your answer to the original topic, it would seem a top end overclocked video card will provide the best performance.

Intel is releasing a new generation of workstation CPUs, with the possibility of up to 18 cores and 44 data transfer lanes. With MS FS based simulators higher clock speed gave better performance and the programming could not use more than two cores. High core count CPUs have lower clock speeds than four core CPUs due primarily to heat issues. Which path will result in higher performance for AF 2? I will be upgrading a workstation to a 10 core CPU and am interested in how the architecture of AF 2 is optimized, more cores and data lanes or higher CPU clocking. I do know that the 10 core processor will give me 9 AI aircraft in Xplane instead of 5 in my current 6 core processor:)

Thanks for putting Robin's Kickstart campaign on the forum. He is very interested in this sim and letting him know you are interested in scenery for FS2 will encourage him to start experimenting with FS2. He needs to see a viable market as his main sim market is P3D and FSX. Some folks who like Xplane 11 helped him to get serious on making Xplane 11 versions of his scenery and I think letting him know you want AF2 scenery will have a similar effect.